Choppy waters

Demand for freshwater is fast exceeding supply. Can the UN water conference, being held almost after 50 years, ensure water security in a fragmented and warming world? 

- PREETHA BANERJEE

FOR THE first time in history, human civilisation has breached the planetary boundary for water. "It means that we are in the red zone," said Csaba Kőrösi, president of the UN General Assembly, ahead of the international organisation's first conference on freshwater in almost 50 years.

Kőrösi said global demand for freshwater will exceed supply by 40 per cent by 2030. In many parts of the world, 80 per cent of the impacts of climate change are felt through water, and countries are simultaneously grappling with three major kinds of water crises. "It's too much, it's too little or it's too dirty to use or drink," he said, calling for transformative water management policies and practices as 193 countries meet at the UN 2023 Water Conference in the US on March 22-24.